{"id":61479,"date":"2023-12-23T15:07:35","date_gmt":"2023-12-23T15:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital"},"modified":"2023-12-23T15:40:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-23T15:40:29","slug":"genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital","title":{"rendered":"Genocide: Belgian court sentences Twahirwa to life, commits Basabose to psychiatric hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>A Belgian court has sentenced Seraphin Twahirwa to life in prison, while his co-accused, Pierre Basabose, has been committed for psychiatric internment in a trial where the duo were accused of the Genocide against the Tutsi.<\/p>\n

Twahirwa, aged 65, was a prominent leader of the Interahamwe militia operating in Gikondo, a Kigali suburb during the genocide.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Basabose, aged 76, is a former military officer and businessperson who once owned a notable forex bureau in Kigali.<\/p>\n

The trial, which commenced on October 9, concluded on December 21 with the court convicting Twahirwa for genocide and war crimes, intentional homicide attempts, and rape.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Basabose was found guilty of genocide but was committed to psychiatric facility owing to the state of his mental health.<\/p>\n

Belgian prosecutors had called for a life sentence for Twahirwa and a 25-year sentence for Basabose.<\/p>\n

Basabose’s case is notable, as he becomes the first genocide convict to be sent to psychiatric internment.<\/p>\n

Early on, medical reports outlined his cognitive decline, confirming memory disorders, judgment impairments, and attention deficits.<\/p>\n

His lawyer argued that he was unable to stand trial, leading to a request for the halt of proceedings.<\/p>\n

Born in the former Ruhengeri prefecture, Basabose, a former military officer who later retired to start a successful business was also a family friend of the former president, Juve\u0301nal Habyarimana.<\/p>\n

He used part of his wealth to become the second-largest shareholder of the infamous Radio-Television Libre des Milles Collines (RTLM).<\/p>\n

Following the events of April 1994, he fled Kigali, undertaking a journey through Zai\u0308re (now the DRC), Kenya, Kazakhstan, and Germany before arriving in Belgium.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Twahirwa, a cousin of Agathe Kanziga, the wife of former President Habyarimana, served as a leader of the Interahamwe militia operating in Gikondo.<\/p>\n

Following the genocide, he also fled to Zai\u0308re and eventually made his way to Belgium via Uganda. Twahirwa holds no legal residency status in Belgium.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. A Belgian court has sentenced Seraphin Twahirwa to life in prison, while his co-accused, Pierre Basabose, has been committed for psychiatric internment in a trial where the duo were accused of the Genocide against the Tutsi. Twahirwa, aged 65, was a prominent leader of the Interahamwe militia operating in Gikondo, a Kigali […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":61478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-61479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nGenocide: Belgian court sentences Twahirwa to life, commits Basabose to psychiatric hospital - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Belgian court has sentenced Seraphin Twahirwa to life in prison, while his co-accused, Pierre Basabose, has been commi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Genocide: Belgian court sentences Twahirwa to life, commits Basabose to psychiatric hospital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Belgian court has sentenced Seraphin Twahirwa to life in prison, while his co-accused, Pierre Basabose, has been commi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-23T15:07:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-23T15:40:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2023\/12\/sm_1703333378.513445.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"583\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Genocide: Belgian court sentences Twahirwa to life, commits Basabose to psychiatric hospital\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-23T15:07:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-23T15:40:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital\"},\"wordCount\":341,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2023\/12\/sm_1703333378.513445.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/genocide-belgian-court-sentences-twahirwa-to-life-commits-basabose-to-psychiatric-hospital\",\"name\":\"Genocide: Belgian court sentences Twahirwa to life, commits Basabose to psychiatric hospital - 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